Updates in the Life of a Good Enough Life

A Good Enough Life has seen the light of day for about a year now, and since some readers have been with me for a while, I thought it might be good to do an update on some of the posts. When I looked back and read the posts of my first several months, I realized that my best stories are told there and felt sad that newer readers probably will never read them. The TU offers archives, but who the heck is going to bother to read those except me – ha, ha? Also some of my posts have had developments. So here goes a wee peak at the far and recent past with some links to those older posts for ease of making a connection.

Ireland Canal Trip: No, we have not taken another nor even been back to Ireland for a few years. I admit at this point I am as homesick as Hutch for his family and that beautiful country. Anyway, if you want a good laugh at my expense, you may want to check out Our Canal Boat Vacation in Ireland in your spare time.

If you decide you want to capture this experience for yourself, do let me know.

Smoking: Hutch and I are still off the weed. Truly, I cannot believe my husband, without really much fanfare or even many complaints (don’t you hate it when their behavior is better than yours?) has weaned himself off the pipe. That man will always amaze me for good or ill. For a man whose daily habits and routines are cut in stone, he can sure climb out of the box when necessary.

On the other hand, I did not say goodbye to my few daily UNINHALED cigarettes without a lot of kicking and screaming mostly borne by my husband. I believe nicotine contributes as much value to relationships as ibuprofen. Too bad it’s a killer. Actually, from what I read, even ibuprofen is at least a stalker!

Mice: Following the post about the mouse in our house enjoying the company of five cats, the body did appear a few weeks ago in the mouth of Billy who seemed poleaxed by the realization that he actually had a mouse in his mouth. I did hear a very tiny squeak so maybe it was not the same mouse. Why has our home become such an attraction?

To be honest, without my glasses, I was struggling to figure out exactly what Billy had in his mouth and was forced to peer way too closely at what was up. I know Billy’s appetite and I know, unlike the other cats, he wanted to EAT that mouse. Not enough for him to have gotten hold of it, he who has never even participated in a hunt, no, he must settle himself on the rug to munch it down. Gross!

I could handle this situation calmly, right? Wrong. I screamed like a banshee, flapping my hands and following Billy from rug to rug and methodically dumping him off with no respect for his accomplishment. Eventually Billy and his mouse were pointing toward the garage door so I picked them up, putting both in the garage with a bowl of water. When I went out later, it was clear that Billy’s dental limitations had defeated his efforts and I was able to dispose of the mouse in relatively one piece. Are you not thrilled to know all this?

Grandchildren: They are growing up faster than I can grasp. Proms and driving and graduations and serious boyfriends and jobs. These are the good years, the years when I am so glad that I am not the parent! In fact, I am also glad not to be the grandchildren. I thought my life with teenagers was complicated and scary back in the day, but the unremitting pace and demands today on both teens and their parents are over the top.

To any of you who are grandparents raising your teen-aged grandchildren, I salute you for your stamina, energy and ability to go with the flow even when it takes you over the falls.

The Indomitable Miss Krista: An unexpected pleasure was that Miss Krista got in touch after I included in her Christmas card the URL for my posts about our nursery school adventures. As you can see, she is STILL as beautiful as I described her and I was delighted on the phone to find her mind just as quick, her heart as big and her view of life just as canny as ever.

Miss Krista & Hubby

The exciting life and undiminished beauty of Miss Krista might have been totally depressing except that I love her and I already told you that aging is not for sissies.

The Prison Years: Robbie was not found but I still have some hope of finding his prison identification in my papers, the possibility of which is admittedly as likely finding a lost contact lens on the beach.

Mary & Robbie 1974

Here is a picture taken at the prison. The Prison Years trilogy link will get you to the middle post about Robbie. There is a related post before and after.

Supermarket Stories: The other day checking out at Kohl’s with some friends I had an experience that showed me little had changed for me from the stories in shopping cart shenanigans. We were all using my 30% off discount on my Kohl’s card, shiny eyed with savings. When it was my turn, I looked for my carefully selected items in the cart I had shared and was shocked to find only one item that was mine. My innocent friends were flabbergasted at the disappearance of my things and, bewildered, they discussed how this might have happened. Suspiciously silent, I did not point out that I had probably switched carts once or even twice in my journey around the store. This is difficult to do at Kohl’s where it is sometimes impossible to even find one of their cute carts.

So back now to my Good Enough Life, which is exceptionally good this weekend since I will be off to visit some out-of-town grandchildren. My granddaughter will be heading off to her first prom!

I was so happy to hear that you are doing so well with the non smoking. I know how hard it is. How in heaven’s name you managed to smoke w/o inhaling is beyond me! But congratulations to you and your husband!

Well, CSSM, that part of my remarks was a bit tongue in cheek – i.e., smoke in lungs – ha, ha. But I really was conscious of not sucking down the smoke. Still, nonsense to think it wasn’t getting to me anyway. Thanks for your comment and encouragement.

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